USC Football: Recruiting Visits, Commits and Decommits, Coaching News

‘Tis the season for news on coaches and recruits, USC fans, so let’s get right down to it.

First up is the news that 4-star defensive end Jason Hatcher decommitted from the Trojans this afternoon. The Louisville native was a part of the pack of recruits visiting the USC campus and Los Angeles this past weekend.

USC’s 2013 class is now 13 strong. Hatcher is the sixth player to de-commit from the Trojans since Max Redfield re-opened his recruiting in November.

USC has four spots remaining on its sanctioned roster and is still in pursuit of former commits Kylie Fitts and Eddie Vanderdoes as well as fellow lineman A’Shawn Robinson.

Fitts reportedly visited that other Los Angeles school in Westwood and raved about it.

Of the nine commits that visited USC this past weekend, among the most sought after was former Trojan commit Eddie Vanderdoes. The 5-star defensive lineman from Placer, California’s Placer High School decommitted from the Trojans in December.

With the new hiring of defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast it was a good opportunity for USC and Pendergast to make a push to get Vanderdoes to re-commit.

Vanderdoes still has official visits to Notre Dame and Alabama before National Signing Day, according to Rivals.

In coaching news, various outlets including Conquest Chronicles are reporting that defensive backs coach Marvin Sanders has been fired. This story cannot be confirmed at this time and is being treated as a rumor. However, given the tight lock head coach Lane Kiffin keeps on information, if this leaked, it is not hard to surmise that it is likely true.

Schrader’s Twitter stream is a testament to the failure of the education system in America with its typos and grammatical errors and while that is a huge pet peeve of mine, it is neither here nor there. If this rumor about DB coach Sanders is true, it is not a shocker as a new defensive coordinator would have ideas about the staff he wants around him.

And finally, the LA Times’ Gary Klein sat down with Pat Haden and amongst other things, the USC athletic director reaffirmed his belief that Lane Kiffin is the man to head the Trojan football program. In the piece, Haden comes across as being content with water polo and tennis titles while his famous football program flounders under an immature coach who desperately needs an offensive coordinator.

From where many Trojan fans stand (including myself), well, we all hope Haden knows something about Kiffin that the masses do not.